Palace Museum lines up Dragon Year exhibits

The Hong Kong Palace Museum is set to showcase over 100 exhibits centered around the Year of the Dragon.

In an effort to attract a younger audience from the Greater Bay Area, museum director Louis Ng Chi-wa has implemented a strategy utilizing the mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu.

These exhibits will be spread across three galleries within the museum: Gallery 1 on the ground floor, Gallery 3, and Gallery 4 on the second floor. Spanning the Ming and Qing dynasties, the collection includes artifacts dating as far back as the 15th century.

Among the notable exhibits is a delicate handscroll titled "The Yongzheng Emperor delivering a lecture during the 18th century," which depicts the scene of the Yongzheng Emperor addressing officials at the imperial college Guozijian. Due to its sensitivity to light, this particular exhibit will only be on display until March.

In addition to the new exhibits, the museum has curated a series of Lunar New Year-themed souvenirs, including cushions, LED night lights, and thermal bottles.

Addressing the press, Ng said the Hong Kong Palace Museum received a total of 1.25 million visits last year, with mainlanders and Hongkongers accounting for approximately 40 percent each, while the remaining 20 percent consisted of overseas tourists.

"Some 60 percent of our visitors were non-locals [last year]. I have confidence that visitors, especially those from mainland and overseas, would visit the museum regularly, after knowing the Hong Kong Palace Museum has such high-quality exhibits," he said.

Ng noted that mainland visitors now make up around 50 percent of the museum's visitors, while Hongkongers account for roughly 35 percent. Despite the decrease in the ratio of local visitors, over 600,000 Hong Kong residents visited the museum last year.

Looking ahead, Ng expressed optimism about the museum's future prospects. He expects the number of visitors in 2024 to surpass that of 2023. The museum plans to launch a total of seven new exhibitions this year and will also rotate existing exhibits.

Ng remained tight-lipped about the details of the upcoming exhibitions but revealed that two of them would focus on Chinese culture, specifically Chinese gardens and ancient Chinese civilization.

He said the museum's efforts to attract young mainland tourists by engaging in marketing promotions through mainland social media platforms, including their WeChat account with 100,000 followers and their Xiaohongshu account.

The Hong Kong Palace Museum will be closed on February 10 and 11, coinciding with the first two days of the Lunar New Year. Visitors are required to reserve their tickets in advance through the museum's website.

Standard adult tickets are priced at HK$60, while children aged seven to 11, full-time students, seniors aged 60 or above, as well as individuals with disabilities and their accompanying caregivers, can purchase tickets at HK$30.